Seasons of Loneliness Can Be Powerful

I’m over at iBelieve.com today, talking about seasons of loneliness and the power they possess…

I’m pretty chatty. I’ll talk to just about anyone. I’ve gotten into long, laughing-like-we’ve-known-each-other-for-years conversations with receptionists, grocery store checkers, baristas, and just about everyone in between. It’s not uncommon for me to come home with a ridiculous story about a stranger who I suddenly struck up a conversation with and how we laughed over some shared experience or observation like we were old pals.

On the other hand…

I’ve been extremely lonely. In the last few years, I’ve moved across county and state lines, starting from scratch in new communities 3 separate times. I’ve also become a mother, leaving behind the ease and camaraderie one finds in the workplace for a solitary life at home with my little one.

Even though I can easily strike up open & friendly banter, I’ve known long seasons of desperate, unnoticed loneliness. When my husband was traveling constantly for work. When my oldest friends drifted our separate ways. When I spent more time with Netflix and Hulu then any actual, living person.

I’m about to enter another one of those seasons. The life of mama with a new baby. The first few weeks and months of motherhood where you barely take a shower, let alone make a meaningful connection with an adult. Sure, there are visitors stopping by and meals being dropped off, but once the initial flurry and excitement stops, your spouse returns to work and you are left behind, alone, babe in arms, feeling a bit abandoned and forgotten in your daily, solitary struggle to adjust.

I came across a concept recently. The idea that loneliness can be powerful. I’ve experienced it myself.